


Let’s Get This Fucking Over With

by VeryFluffyFluff



Category: Camp Camp (Web Series)
Genre: Abuse, Abusive Preston/Nurf, Alternate Universe - High School, Angst, Bullying, Confessions, Crying, Dating, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Hugging, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Main Ship Is Not Abusive, Slow Burn, dadvid
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-07
Updated: 2017-08-28
Packaged: 2018-12-12 12:03:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 7,651
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11736663
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VeryFluffyFluff/pseuds/VeryFluffyFluff
Summary: Max walked away. He couldn’t watch this. He had heard that some kids had gone crazy when they got paired up to take care of Platypus eggs for a project. But that had been months ago. This would explain the long sleeves, and why Preston always looked tired and sad.High School au





	1. Needs Help

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry I turned Nurf into the "villian".  
> This is bad, and Max is probably ooc.  
> Sorry.

“Max, this is the third time you’ve gotten sent to my office in the past two weeks.” The principal started. “If you keep this behavior up, we might have to remove you from the class. You are distracting Nikki, Neil, and everyone else from learning.” Max didn’t care about getting detention or being sent to the principal’s office. He didn’t want to be removed from the one class he had with Nikki and Neil, though.

 

“I’ll stop.” Max drawled. The principal nodded, but Max wasn’t sure if he believed him or not.

 

“You’re still in trouble for being sent here three times. As your punishment, I’m going to have you join the school play. They are low a few people. If you can’t fit this into your schedule, we can find something else for you to do. This probably doesn’t sound like much of a punishment, but at this point everyone knows your dislike for acting from your complaining during the Understanding Shakespeare class.” The principal added.

 

Max sighed. He hated acting, but he wasn’t sure what other punishments they would come up with since they knew he didn’t mind getting detention. 

 

He weighed his options, and decided “I’ll join the play…”

 

“Great, I’ll tell the person in charge of the play! The next play rehearsal is tomorrow. There are two rehearsals a week, please go to at least once a week. If you miss a week, try to go to two the next week, so you don’t fall behind. You can go back to class now.”

 

“Ok...” Max got up from his chair, and walked out of the room.

* * *

 

 

“He said that I have to join the fucking school play as a punishment.” Max complained. He was sitting with Nikki and Neil, during lunch.

“It could be worse. At least being part of the play could be fun. I heard Preston wrote it this year.” Nikki mentioned.

“I hate acting.” Max groaned.

“You hate everything,” Neil cut in. “You probably won’t get an important part anyway. You’ll probably end up standing off the side for most of it.”

“I heard that Preston wrote it so everyone gets at least a decent part of one scene or something.” Nikki said.

“Great…” Max muttered, and rolled his eyes. Of course Preston would.

* * *

 

 

“Oh, Max is here,” Preston said. He excused himself from the conversation he had been in, and walked over to where Max was. “Hello, Max!”

“Hi, Preston.” Max said grouchily. He didn’t look happy, but Preston hadn’t expected him to be. He was always angry at something.

“Today we’re just going to be reading the scripts, and going over what happens in the story, so we all understand it. I gave you a smaller part, since you dislike acting, but you’re a background character in a bunch of scenes.” Preston handed Max his script, and asked “Do you have any questions?”

Max raised his eyebrow, and asked “You wrote this?” as he flipped through the pages.

“Yeah. It’s not the first one I’ve written. Are you ready for rehearsal?”

“Let’s get this fucking over with.”

* * *

 

 

Max continued to go to play rehearsal for the next few weeks.

The story wasn't actually that bad, but Max still complained about parts of it. The romance was really cheesy and the whole thing was overly dramatic, but it had been written by Preston.

The biggest scene Max was in wasn't that long, but he still had to act. Everyone told him he needed to work on putting emotion into what he was saying, but Max didn’t want to, so he wouldn’t. This seemed to upset Preston, but he tried not to get angry at Max. He was too busy working on helping everyone else. Then one day, Preston pulled Max off to the side to talk to him.

“I know you don’t want to be here, but could you at least try to put some effort or emotion into your part.” Preston didn’t sound angry. He just sounded tired. For the last month or so, Preston had been acting differently. He had been more quiet, tired, and sad, and had been wearing long sleeves non stop. Max was worried about him.

“What fucking emotion do you want me to show? I’ve been showing emotions. Boredom and hatred.” Max said. Preston just sighed.

“I gave you a character who wasn’t enthusiastic because I thought it would this easier. You’re supposed to be sad. At least drop the sarcasm out of your voice when speaking. It’s affecting what people will think the character means.”

“Fine.” Max walked away. Max would try being less sarcastic. The performance was coming up soon, anyway. Then this could all be done.

* * *

 

 

The play performance went fine. Preston seemed to be pleased with Max’s less sarcastic and more sad speaking tone, and even told him that he did great. Nikki, Neil, and Max’s dad, David, all came to see him in the play. Max thought it was embarrassing. Preston said that it was sweet.

Max was no longer being forced to be a part of the play, so he hadn’t signed to be a part of the next play. The sign up sheet for signing up wasn’t due for another week, but Max wasn’t even going to touch one of those pieces of paper.

Max was walking to the bathroom, during class, when he heard Preston’s and another boy’s voices coming from another hallway. He decided to spy on the conversation. Preston looked terrified, and the other kid looked angry at him.

“You’re thinking about leaving me, aren’t you?”

“N-no… I would never!”

“You’re lying! You’re gonna try to get away! Think about how Nurf Jr. feels! We can’t have him living with a broken family!”

“He was just an egg! He’s not even here anymore. 

“He’s not just an egg! This is why he ran away! You didn’t care enough!”

I don’t… I can’t…”

“Can’t what? Stay around me? Well, you can’t leave either! You have no other friends!” The other boy hit Preston in the shoulder, and Preston stumbled backwards. Preston held his hands up in front of his face defensively, and trembled in fear. The other boy approached him, to hit him again.

Max walked away. He couldn’t watch this. He had heard that some kids had gone crazy when they got paired up to take care of Platypus eggs for a project. But that had been months ago, and the Platypus babies had been sent away somewhere.

 

The other boy had been hitting Preston, and he looked like he was used to this. This would explain the long sleeves, and why Preston always looked tired and sad. He was stuck in this “relationship”. Max wanted to help Preston, but he didn’t trust the teachers.

Max grabbed a play sign up sheet from the main office’s sign up sheet folder. He would figure out more about what was happening to Preston. He filled out the sheet, and handed it in.

* * *

 

 

“Max, you signed up for another play? That’s great! I’m glad you liked the first one enough to do another one!” Preston exclaimed. 

“It wasn't that fucking awful, but I'm only here because I need something to do.” Max said defensively.

“At least your here. A few people left after the first play, so I thought we wouldn't have enough people. I guess, with you here, we just have enough!”

“I don't care. When is rehearsal starting? I want to go home.”

“I didn't write the play this time, so I'm not in charge. I'm just another actor. Maybe we’ll get a scene together! Then we could practice our lines together. That would be fun!”

“Maybe…”


	2. Doing Something

They did get a scene together, so they ended up hanging out during rehearsal more than usual. Preston wasn't as annoying as Max had first thought. He was actually pretty nice to be around, but Max would deny it if anyone found out he thought that.

 

What Max had seen with Preston and the other boy, who he recently found out was named Nurf, was always in the back of Max’s mind when he was around Preston. Max decided that he should talk to Preston about it. One day, after rehearsal, Max waited until everyone but Preston had left to go home, than walked over to where he was.

 

“We need to talk about something, Preston.”

 

“What do you need to talk about with me?”

 

“I was walking down the hall, a while ago, and I heard you talking with Nurf.” Preston eyes grew wide, and his hands started to tremble.

 

“You saw what?”

 

“I saw Nurf yelling at you, and hitting you. You were talking about one of the Platypu eggs and how Nurf was sure you were going to leave him. Why did this happen?” Max questioned.

 

“We were paired up during the Platypus egg project, and people in our class were referring to themselves as the eggs’ parents. Nurf started talking like we were in a relationship, and were actually parents of the egg. He became almost obsessed with it, and started getting angry at me when I did something wrong. I don't have many friends, so I sit with Nurf at lunch and during some classes. It got to the point where he was hitting me for almost everything. I mean, he was violent to me before, but it got worse. It isn’t his fault, though. I don't think he really knows what he is doing, or he just doesn't know what else to do.” Max just sat there, and listened to Preston speak for a while. Halfway through his monologue, Preston started crying.

 

“Is this still fucking happening?” Max asked. Preston didn’t respond. “Is this still fucking happening to you, Preston?” Preston was crying too much to answer at this point, so he just nodded. “So you're basically stuck in an abusive relationship.”

 

“We… We’re n-not… in a relationship. I just… I-I can’t…”Preston tried to say through his sobbing.

 

Max wrapped his arms around Preston, in a hug, in an attempt to comfort him. Preston put his face on top of Max’s head, and bawled into his hair.

* * *

 

 

“You sure I can sit with you? Nikki and Neil won't get upset?”

“Nerris and Harrison always fucking invite themselves over, so you'll be fine. They don't care too much.” Max had invited Preston to sit at his table, so he could get away from Nurf. When they got to the table, Nikki, Neil, Nerris, and Harrison stared at Max and Preston for a while. “Preston is sitting here from now on. He was kicked out of his table.”

“Oh, cool, welcome to our table!”

“Yeah, come on, sit down!”

“Welcome.”

Preston smiled, and sat down next to Max.

* * *

 

 

Since all the kids acting in the play had been doing really well, they decided that they would take a break. Somebody had brought in water ballons for some reason, so everyone had gotten into a big water balloon fight.

Everyone except for Preston. He was just sitting off to the side. Then a stray water balloon hit him, and splashed onto his face. Preston immediately excused himself, and left the room. Max, thinking it was suspicious, followed him.

He found Preston in the bathroom, washing his face. It looked like he had been wearing make up. He looked more closely at Preston’s face in the mirror, and saw that he had a black eye and a giant bruise on his cheek.

“Preston, what are you doing?”

“Oh, Max! I didn’t see you there.” He didn't answer Max’s question.

“What are you doing?”

“The water balloon messed up the make up I was using to hide these. I’m just washing it off, so I can put it back on.” Preston answered quietly. He sounded embarrassed and weak.

“Why can't you tell anyone?”

“I told you already, Max. Nurf would be upset. They’d probably get upset at him, but it's not his fault.”

“He's fucking hurting you, Preston. It doesn't matter whether or not it's his fault. He probably deserves it. He bullies other people too.”

“I just don't know, Max. I don't know what to do.”

“Then I’ll tell someone for you.”

“No you wouldn’t. You don’t care enough. You're just doing this because you want it off your conscious or something.”

”Stop fucking avoiding this, Preston. I’m trying to help you out of this shit situation you're in. Either you or I am going to have to tell someone about this. Preston.” Preston didn’t say anything. He just stared sadly into the mirror, having finished putting the makeup back on. “Preston, choose. You or me?”

 

“I don’t-”

“Then I’ll do it.” Max started walking out of the bathroom.

“No, Max, wait! Don’t… Don’t do it. I’ll-” Max had left. He was going to tell someone. Preston needed help. It didn’t matter if Max didn’t trust any of the teachers. Preston needed this.


	3. Solutions and Realizations

“This has been happening to Preston since the platypus egg project, right?” The teacher asked.

 

“Yup.”

 

“That was months ago…” The teacher looked horrified at that fact.

 

“Yes.”

 

“Thank you for telling me. I’ll see what I can do to help Preston, and maybe get Nurf a therapist. I’m concerned no one found out or told us sooner.”

 

“Well, I’ve got to go back to play rehearsal.” Max started to leave the room.

 

“Bye, Max. Thanks again for telling me this!”

 

“Whatever.”

* * *

 

 

Preston has been avoiding Max, since he had told the teacher about Preston’s problem. Now all the teachers were involved, and kept asking him if he was okay. 

Whenever Nurf saw him in the hallway or during a class, he glared at Preston. It was like he was threatening to kill him and everything he cared about with his eyes. The teachers had made sure that Nurf wouldn’t be able to get anywhere near Preston, but it still scared him.

Things had changed, and Preston wasn’t sure he liked it. Sure, Nurf couldn’t hurt him anymore, but now all of the teachers were watching everything he did. They kept asking him questions. They had told his parents, and they had started freaking out.

Max was responsible for this. The person Preston had thought he could trust had done this. Preston knew Max was trying to help, for some unknown reason, but it still stung.

Then after the next play rehearsal, once everyone but him had left, Max tried to talk with him.

“Preston…”

“What do you want, Max?” Why did he do this to him?

“I… you're angry at me, right?”

“You did the one thing I told you not to do. Why wouldn’t I be angry?”

“I was just fucking trying to help you.” It sounded like it was supposed to be angry, but Max just sounded upset.

“I know, and that just makes it worse. While it was happening, I just wanted help, but i couldn’t tell anyone. Now that people know, and people are “helping”, I just want it to go back to how it was. This is different, and I'm not sure I like it.” Preston almost growled at Max.

“It’ll be better. This will help, Preston. I’m not fucking sorry, but you being unhappy is annoying. The teachers haven’t told anyone else, so if you just hang out with me and my friends, no one will treat you differently. Harrison and Nerris seemed to think you were cool…” Max trailed off. He looked concerned. People kept being concerned around Preston. But Max also looked sad. Concerned, but sad and unhappy, and upset. Upset because Preston was ignoring him.

 

Preston didn’t like seeing Max sad because of him.

“Fine. I guess I’ll just do that.” Preston decided.

* * *

 

 

One question had been haunting Max for a while. Why the fuck did he care about Preston enough to do this. Sure, he would have done this for Nikki or Neil, but he had known the for years. Max had only really started talking to Preston earlier this year.

Preston was nice, but Max usually found nice people annoying. Preston was obsessed with plays and musicals. Max hated acting, and he would deny humming those songs from the musicals Preston talked about a lot for the rest of his life. Preston wasn’t particularly attractive, and didn’t have the greatest fashion sense. At least that’s what other people said, anyway.

Why would Max do this for him? He had no reason to. Max decided to ask his dad, David.

“So you randomly decide to help this one person who you had only sort of became friends with earlier this year.”

“Yes.”

“And you are asking me why?”

“I can’t think of a single fucking reason I would.”

“First of all, language, Max. And second of all… um… is he a really good friend?”

“Not particularly.”

“Do you get anything out of helping him?”

“No.”

“Do you have a crush on him?” Max went to say no, but stopped. Did he have a crush on Preston? “Oh my god, you do! That's adorable.”

 

“No, of course I don’t! Just… one minute.” Max speed walked out of the room. His face was burning. He thought back to the list he made earlier. 

Preston was nice. He didn't make fun of Max for his pessimistic outlook on life or general unhappiness. He had laughed at Max for Mr Honey Nuts, but Nurf had been standing next to him. He hadn’t looked like he had meant it.

Preston was obsessed with plays and musicals. Max had listened to a few musicals they weren’t all bad. Max liked the songs better when Preston sang them, though.

Preston wasn’t particularly attractive, and didn’t have the greatest fashion sense. At least that’s what other people said. Max didn’t really believe them. Preston was cute. He had floofy hair that was a pretty color. Whenever he was genuinely happy, his eyes twinkled, and his smile could light up a room. Max thought Preston was beautiful.

Max sat down on his bed, and put his head in his hands. He had a fucking crush on Preston. Preston had just gotten out of an abusive “relationship”, so Max couldn’t tell him. Knowing Max has a crush on him is probably the last thing he needs right now. If Nikki and Neil find out about this he’ll never hear the end of it, and David already knows.

“This is going to be fun...”


	4. Why I Should Why I Shouldn't

Two weeks later, Max, Nikki, Neil, Harrison, Nerris, and Preston decided to meet up somewhere, outside of school. They decided to just go to some fast food restaurant, just so they could talk.

They all got food, and sat down together at a table. Their conversation turned into Harrison and Nerris arguing over which type of magic was better. Nikki sided with Harrison because she thought it was cool, and Neil sided with Nerris because Harrison’s magic wasn’t scientific. Max was too tired to pick a side, and Preston didn’t pick a side either.

At one point during the argument, Nikki started flailing her arms around angrily. One of her hands hit Preston, and he froze. He dropped what food he was holding, and got up from his seat. Then he ran out of the building. Everyone was too caught up in their argument to notice him leaving. Max decided to follow him.

Preston was sitting on the ground, with his back against the building. He was shaking, and looked scared.

“Preston…” He didn’t respond. “Are you okay.”

“What?”

“Not that I fucking care about you, but you ran out after someone accidentally hit you and now you're shaking.”

“Yeah, I’m okay. I was just… reminded of what… Nurf did.” Preston didn’t make eye contact with Max. “I’m sorry for concerning you or running out on everybody. I was just… scared.”

“It’s fine. If you need time, that's fine. You're not gonna get better overnight. Nurf did some pretty shitty things to you, and it’s okay if you can’t instantly forget that.”

 

“Thanks, Max” Preston smiled.

 

“Whatever. I’m gonna grab my food, do you want me to bring you yours?”

 

“Yeah, could you do that?” Max walked back inside, and picked up his and Preston’s food. He walked back outside. Everyone else was still having their argument.

 

“Here you go.” Max handed Preston his food, and sat down next to him. He was too tired to keep standing.

“Thank you, Max.” Preston ate the rest of his food, quickly. He must have been hungry. Max was still eating, so Preston began to talk about some musical he liked. Max listened to him speak. He could have listened to Preston speak about stupid musicals for hours, but he was tired. After he finished eating his food, Max almost fell instantly asleep.

* * *

 

 

Preston asked Max a question and when he didn't respond he turned to see that Max had fallen asleep. He had just finished eating two seconds ago, he must have been really tired.

Preston looked at Max. How was he ever going to make all of this up to Max? When Max first joined the school play, Preston knew it was because he was in trouble. Max wasn’t that happy with being there, but then Max signed up for the play again. 

They were put in a scene together, and had started talking more. Then Max talked to Preston about his problem with Nurf, and had invited him to sit at his table. He introduced him to Harrison and Nerris, who both became his friends, too. Then Max had told the teachers, and had gotten Preston help. Now he was sitting here comforting Preston because he freaked out after something reminded him of Nurf's attacks.

Max had basically single handedly saved Preston. Max claimed he didn’t care about Preston, but actions speak louder than words. Preston knew Max cared, and that’s what helped. If someone as great as Max wanted him to be okay and get better, than he could.

Preston knows at this point that he is developing a crush on Max. Max had helped him, and supported him. He was an asshole, but he did care if you looked past that. He was funny, and nice to hang out with. His stories about the summer camp, and what he did to the person who later adopted him, were hilarious. And he cared about Preston. He cared enough to have done all that to help him.

* * *

 

 

“What's this?” Max had just handed Preston a half sheet of paper with some information on it.

“My birthday’s coming up, and my dad wanted me to invite some people over for a party.”

“Oooh, a birthday party invite! I haven't gotten one of these in years! I'll email you if I can make it. I don't think I have anything important coming up.” Preston was exited. Not a lot of people really like hanging out with him, so they never invited him places.

“Yeah, okay.” Max walked away, probably to his next class or to talk with Nikki or Neil. Preston looked at the paper again. It just had a date, time, and location on it. No explanation as to what could be happening there. Preston was glad he had asked for clarification. He took out his phone to check his calender.

* * *

 

 

_ Ding Dong _

“Max go get the door.” David yelled from the other room. Max got up from his seat on the couch, and walked to the door. 

He was excited, since someone had shown up for his birthday party, but he tried to look annoyed. It was still five minutes before it was support to start, so he hadn't expected people to show up yet. Usually Nikki was late, and Neil usually showed up within one minute of the listed time. He had only invited three people, so it must be Preston.

Max was glad he hadn't told David who the person he had a crush on was because he would make this very awkward. Max reached the door, and opened it. He had been right about it being Preston. Preston held out a box covered in wrapping paper to him.

“I got you a birthday present.”

“Oh, thanks.” Max stepped out of the way, so Preston could get in. David walked into the room, and waved at Preston.

“Hi! I'm Marx’s dad. Who are you? Wait, were you in the play?” David asked.

“Hi, I'm Preston. It's nice to meet you. I wrote the play, and played someone in it.” Preston answered.

“You wrote it? It was really good. I liked it.”

“Thanks.”

“Well, you two can wait over there for the others to get here, and then we can start the party. Okay?” David concluded.

“Okay.” Max grumbled. He walked back over to the couch, and Preston followed him.

* * *

 

 

“Was that the kid you have a crush on?” David asked after the party ended, and everyone had gone home.

“What, no! How the fuck did you… ?” Max spat out. David laughed.

“Language, Max. You’ve only invited Nikki and Neil over for years, and then after you tell me you have a crush on someone, you invite another person over. And by that ‘How did you’ at the end there, I’m guessing I’m right,” David explained.

“Maybe, maybe not,” Max said, sinking into his seat out of embarrassment.

“He seems nice. I approve,” David stated. Max groaned and slid down further into his seat. He didn’t want to talk about this. David just laughed some more.

* * *

 

 

Should I tell Max or should I not. Preston couldn’t decide so he made a list of reasons why for each option.

Why I should tell him:

It’s not good to hide your feelings. You should be honest with people. 

Why I shouldn’t tell him:

Max has already done so much for me. It might make things awkward, and Max was basically his best friend. He didn’t want to loose him.

Why I should tell him:

He might like me back. There must have been a reason that he helped Preston, and he really did seem to care.

Why I shouldn’t tell him:

I’m scared. Max wasn’t always the nicest person. He could turn into another Nurf.

Why I should tell him:

Max isn’t like Nurf. Max cares about me. It’s worth a shot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My Tumblr is also called VeryFluffyFluff


	5. Trying

Preston had decided that he would tell Max that he had a crush on him. What he didn’t know was how he was going to do it.

 

Preston had to tell Max this when they were alone because if other people were there the chance of Max saying yes would go down. Preston couldn’t be overdramatic while doing it because Max might be embarrassed. He decided that he would just bring it up sometime they were alone.

* * *

 

 

After play rehearsal, Preston waited until only he and Max were left. Together, they started to walk to the school’s exit. Preston took a deep breath.

“Max.”

“Yeah?” Preston hands were shaking. He couldn’t do this. He just couldn’t do this. He was too scared. They reached the place where they were supposed to get picked up. “What do you want, Preston?” Max sounded kind of annoyed.

“I… I’ll see you tomorrow!” Preston said. It sounds fake, but Preston didn’t really care. He speed walked away as fast as he could.

* * *

Preston was sitting by himself in a hallway, after school, but still before play rehearsal started. He usually used this time to work on his homework. He was usually alone, but today he heard footsteps coming towards him, so he looked up from his work. It was Nurf, and he looked angry.

“I should have known you would leave me. I should have looked out for it. You were more scared when you were isolated. I shouldn’t have let you get close to other people.”

“I… he didn’t…” Preston tried to choke out.

“You’re right. It wasn’t them it was you. You left me! You abandoned me!” Nurf had reached where Preston was sitting on the floor, shaking. He kicked Preston every time he said the words you or your. “You did this to me! They think I’m crazy, and sent me to therapy because of you! This is your fault! I hate you!”

Preston was scared. He was in pain. Nurf proceeded to hit and kick Preston, while screaming at him for what felt like ages. Then he heard footsteps walking up the hallway, again.

“What is going on?” He heard someone, Max, yell. Nurf stopped kicking and hitting him, and turned to face Max.

“It’s none of your business. Go away and Pretend you didn’t see anything!” Nurf growled. Instead of doing what he was told, Max reached into his pocket and took out his phone.

“I’m filming this. If you keep this shit up, I’ll show the teachers, and everyone in this fucking school what you are doing. If you leave now, I’ll delete it.” Max offered. Nurf looked angrier, but didn’t attack Preston again. He started to walk back down the hall, but stopped in front of where Max was.

 

“If I see you again, you’ll end up like him” Nurf pointed to where Preston was laying on the floor. He was still shaking, and he was on the verge of breaking into tears. Nurf walked down the rest of the hall, and out of sight. Max walked over to Preston, and sat down next to him. Preston sat up.

“Thank you.” Preston whispered. He was still trying to calm down. He had been so scared. Nurf had been really angry. If Max hadn’t stopped him, he could have  _ really _ hurt Preston.

“No problem.” Max grunted. “You need anything?”

“No, can we just… sit here for a minute.” Preston asked.

“Sure.” Max replied. “How bad did he hurt you?”

“He usually stops because it's just a great. This time he was really angry, so it might be worse.”

“We can skip play rehearsal today. If you’re not feeling up to it.”

“Okay.” Preston would usually have been disgusted at the idea of missing play rehearsal. Theater was his life, but he was in a lot of pain. He scooched over to the wall, so he could lean against it. Max followed him, and picked up some of the homework that had gotten forgotten when Nurf showed up. “I’m sorry  you keep having to help me.”

“Don’t fucking apologize. It wasn’t your fault.” Max said. “It's not like I was doing anything else.”

“Why did you look here? Usually this hallway is empty. Why were you walking around, anyway.”

“You weren’t at play rehearsal. You never miss play rehearsal, and everyone else is boring. You usually walk to play rehersal from this direction, so I looked here first.”

“Aw, you were looking for me.” Max started  _ blushing _ ?

“N-no. Well, yes… I…” Preston laughed at him, but it hurt, and he ended up wincing and hugging his stomach. Max was so nice. He was looking for Preston, and save him again. Despite denying that he cared, he probably cared the most about Preston than anyone else did.

 

“Max, I like you.” Preston didn’t realize he said it out loud until after it was done.

“You fucking  _ what _ ?” Max sounded shocked and  _ hopeful _ ?

“I said I like you… as more than a friend.” Preston clarified. Now Max was blushing even more than before.

“Y-you do?” Max asked. Preston nodded.

“I… I like you too.”


	6. Learning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys wanted them to date. Here you go.

“You like me too! I mean I know you cared about me because you wouldn’t have helped me if you didn’t. I just didn’t think you liked being around me that much. Well, 

I-”

 

“Preston. Just stop talking.” Preston realized he had been rambling, probably out of a mix of excitement and embarrassment.

 

“Oh yeah, sorry. Anyway, do you want to date me?” Prestron asked.

 

“You’d want to date  _ me _ ?” Max asked.

 

“Yeah, of course. Why wouldn’t I?”

 

“You aren’t scared I’ll hurt you like Nurf. I’m not the nicest person, and I say hurtful things a lot.”

 

“Actions speak louder than words, max. You just saved me from Nurf. You saved me from Nurf before. You care too much about me to let me get hurt.” Max’s whole face was red.

 

“Shut up!” He groaned. “Fine, I’ll date you.”

 

“Really?”

 

“Yeah, I already said I fucking liked you too.” Preston laughed.

 

“Now that that’s cleared up, can you help me to the nurse. I am in a lot of pain.”

 

“Sure.”

* * *

 

 

“Max are you okay? You’ve been very quiet today.” David asked him during the car ride home.

“Preston likes me too.” Max whispered.

“What?”

“I said, Preston fucking likes me too!” Max shouted. Then he crossed his arms and looked away.

“That’s great! Are you two together?” Max nodded. “Oh, I’m going to tell everyone. Max got his first boyfriend!”

“Shut up!” David just laughed.

* * *

Max and Preston had been dating for a week now, but they hadn’t even held hands yet. He kept moving his hand over to Preston’s, and then pulling it back. Max usually just whatever he wanted, but he seemed worried that he would hurt Preston.

“Hey, Max?”

“What, Preston?”

“Can I hold your hand?”

“You don’t have to fucking ask to do that!” 

“Is that a yes?”

“Yes, you idiot.” Preston smiled. He took Max’s hand and intertwined their fingers. Max blushed and looked away. They had to go to different classes, and had to let go of each other's hand, but Preston didn’t stop smiling for another two hours after that.

* * *

 

 

Preston had been sad today. He didn’t smile as much as he usually did, and kept acting really mopey. Even holding hands didn’t cheer him up. Max is bad at showing concern through words, but he tried his best.

“You okay?”

“What?”

“You’ve been more annoying than usual because you won’t stop moping around. Why are you sad?”

“I…” Preston just stood there. He didn’t try to answer Max’s question at all.

“It's fine you don’t have to fucking tell me, just…” he trailed off. Max reached over to Preston, and grabbed his jacket. He pulled Preston down, and pressed a kiss to his cheek. He let go, and Preston slowly stood up. His eyes were wide, his mouth was hanging open, and his face was red. “Just feel better soon.” Max walked away, trying to ignore everybody staring at him because of what he just did.

* * *

 

 

Preston had felt better the next day, and had thanked Max for trying to help. Word got around the school that Max and Preston are dating, since many people had seen Max kiss Preston’s cheek.

When they got to their lunch table, Nikki and Neil were waiting for them.

“You didn’t tell us.” Neil said. “That you two were dating.”

“Yeah.” Max answered. “We didn’t fucking tell anyone.”

“What are your intentions with Max, Preston.” Nikki yelled. She was standing up, and leaning across the table, so her face was only inches away from Preston’s.

“Um… I like him.” Preston answered.

“Good enough.” Nikki said, and sat down. “Seriously, though, how long has this been going on.”

“Well,” Max started. “We…”


	7. Comfort

“We… got together about a months ago.” Max said.

 

“No, when did you start liking each other? I knew that you liked Preston. I mean, that was obvious, but Preston liking you back? When did that happen?” Nikki questioned.

 

“I don’t know. We became friends, I guess.” Max suggested.

 

“When did that turn into feelings?” Nikki whined.

 

“Why don’t you just fucking ask him!” Max didn’t want to answer this. He couldn’t think of a way to explain it without giving the whole Nurf situation away.

 

“Okay, Preston, when did you start liking Max.” Nikki asked.

 

“Um… he helped me with a problem, and… no one else realized I was had a problem. It was nice. I figured out that he cared about me, which was more than everybody else at the time.” Preston explained.

 

“What problem?”

 

“I can’t tell you that.”

 

“Why nooot?” Nikki whined.

 

“Its personal.”

 

“Okay…” Nikki sighed. “Moving on, what did you guys think about…”

 

At least that was over with.

* * *

 

 

“Hey, are you busy tomorrow?” Max asked.

“No, I shouldn’t be.” Preston answered.

“Do you want to come over to my house, and watch some movies with me? David found a bunch of old, shitty movies in a closet, and asked me if I fucking wanted to invite you over to watch them.”

“Like a date?”

“Yeah, but you don’t have to dress up or anything. You can just show up, if you want to.”

“Yeah, I should be able to go.”

* * *

 

 

Preston was sitting on Max’s couch, watching old, shitty movies. Max had his head on Preston’s shoulder, and was holding his hand. They had turned off the lights, so they could see the movies better. Preston was glad because if they had kept the lights on, his blushing would be obvious.

At one point, Max’s dad had looked into the room from the doorway. Other than that, he had stayed out of the living room they were in. He had looked so happy, seeing Max and Preston sitting together. Max didn’t seem to notice his presence, and he left the doorway after a few minutes.

Max kept pointing out ways that the movies were bad, and at one point went on a ten minute rant about something in one of the movies. It was fun listening to Max talk about the movies. He could pick out so many negative things that Preston didn’t notice. It was hilarious.

One of the movies was a musical, and during this movie, Preston was the one making comments about it. He had tried writing a musical a few times, and had learned a lot of things about writing songs in musicals. He pointed out things that the movie did well, and what they didn’t do well. Max didn’t complain about Preston doing this as much as he had thought he would. He must be having fun.

They watched six movies, before it got too late, and Preston had to leave. Preston didn't want to leave. Deciding to date Max was one of the best decisions he had ever made.

* * *

 

 

They had gotten into an argument. Max couldn’t remember what it was about, now. He had probably said or done something, during the argument, that has reminded Preston of Nurf. He had gotten scared, and put his arms in front of his face. Preston had sank to the floor, and was crying.

Max didn’t know what to do. He sat down in front of Preston, and tried to touch Preston’s shoulder. Preston hit his hand away.

“Preston, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to get angry. Whatever I did, I didn’t do it on purpose. I wouldn’t do anything Nurf fucking did to you, to you.”

“I-I… I know that… I was just sc-scared. I j-just… need a moment.” Preston choked out through his sobbing.

“Do you want me to leave, or do you want me to wait.” Max still had no idea what he was doing or how he could help.

“J-just wait a moment.” Preston took a few minutes to calm himself down. He was wiping the last of the tears off of his face when he asked, “Can I have a hug?” Max just held out his arms. Preston scooched closer to him, and wrapped his arms around Max’s waist.

“Thank you, Max. I’m sorry I keep doing this.”

“Don’t fucking apologise. If you need time, you need time.”

“How will I ever make this up to you?”

“You don’t need to, Preston. You don’t need to make anything up to me. I’m doing this because I… because I love you.” Preston hugged Max closer.

“I love you too.”


	8. Author Note

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry

I just fixed chapter 4 because I just realized I put the wrong thing there. I'll fix the weird spacing later. Sorry for this.

Also, do you want me to write more for this au, or do you want me to write them in a more canon way? Please tell me what you think in a comment. Thank you for getting this far. I'm sorry this isn't a chapter, but I will write more if you tell me what you want me to write.

Thank you.


	9. Do I Hurt Others?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you didn't get what the last chapter meant, please reread chapter four. I put the wrong thing there, and I just changed it.
> 
> The story is getting kind of repetative, so if you have any ideas on what can happen next, please tell me.

The play performance was coming up. It would be the last one this school year, since summer vacation was coming up soon.

 

During the last play rehearsal, people were going fucking crazy. Almost everybody was freaking out. Some people were running around, trying to find their costumes. Some people were going over their already mesmerized lines, attempting to engrave it into their brains. 

 

Max just sat to the side of the stage. He already knew his lines because Preston made sure to remind him of them every time someone mentioned the play. He was also going to wear the bare minimum of what would be considered a costume, and underneath that, he was just going to wear his normal clothes.

 

Preston, on the other hand, was going all out with his costume. Max didn't expect anything else, really. Plays and musicals were Preston’s life.

* * *

 

 

During their scene together, in the actual performance, Max watched Preston. After he said what he had to, he just stood there for the rest of the scene, so it was fine. When Preston was speaking, his eyes lit up, and a huge smile grew on his face. He always looked happy, during play rehearsal, but now he looked like he was overflowing with the emotion.

Max liked seeing Preston happy. He always loved Preston, but seeing him upset and crying, about what Nurf had done to him, was fucking heartbreaking.

When the scene ended, and Max got to leave the stage, he leaned against the wall backstage. Preston stood next to him, waiting for his next scene. When it was time for him to go back onstage, Preston bounced from excitement, and smiled even wider. This made Max smile too.

* * *

 

 

Max was hanging out with Nikki and Neil, at his house. They were playing video games, talking, and eating snacks like they always do.

“So, Max, “Nikki started. “How is Preston doing?”

“He’s doing fine.” Max mumbled. He wasn't lying. Preston had been a lot more happier lately. He isn’t completely fine, but he is getting better.

“I would’ve thought he would be depressed or something, now that the play is over. What is he going to obsess over now?” Nikki continued.

“He listens to musicals and stuff. I’ve almost memorized this one musical that he listens to a lot.” Max answered.

“Awww, you listen to music with him. That’s adorable,” Nikki liked to tease Max about this. She was probably just bitter about the fact that he got a boyfriend before she found someone to date.

“Uhhhg.” Max groaned. He slid further down into his seat on the couch. Neil snickered at him. “Shut up!” Max exclaimed. Both Neil and Nikki broke out laughing. Max couldn’t help but smile.

* * *

 

 

Max was angry.He was holding hands with Preston, and somebody made some mean comment about it. Max snapped back at the person. He kept yelling at them until they left.

Then Preston pulled his hand out of Max’s and stepped away. He held his hand with his other, and looked at it like it hurt. Oh. Max must have squeezed it too hard when he had gotten angry.

“Preston, I’m so sorry. Fuck. I didn’t mean to hurt you. I’m sor-”

“It's fine,” Preston interrupted. “You didn’t mean to. It was an accident.” He smiled reassuringly at Max, but Max was scared. 

He had hurt Preston. Preston who had been hurt by Nurf. Preston who didn’t deserve this. He was just like Nurf. Max knew that Preston didn’t think Mas would hurt him, but Max was scared. He couldn’t do this to him. He was supposed to be helping Preston, not fucking doing… this to him. Max slowly backed away.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” He mumbled as he turned to walk away. He couldn’t hurt Preston. He had to get away from him.

“Max, wait! Where are you going-” Max just kept on walking.

* * *

 

 

“Max, you’ve been mopey all afternoon, are you okay?” David asked Max.

“Do you think I... hurt people?”

“No! Why would you think that? You can be rude sometimes. Or a lot… but you don’t cause people harm.” David answered. “You aren't a bad person!”

“Ok.”

* * *

 

 

“Max!” He heard Preston yell from behind him. Max turned towards him, but kept his head down.

“Hi, Preston.” Max replied. “I’m sorry for running away, yesterday. And I’m sorry for hurting your hand.”

“It’s fine. It was an accident. I know you are scared that you’ll hurt me like Nurf did, so I was kind of expecting a reaction like that. It’s that big of a problem.”

“You sure you’re fine?”

“Yes.” Preston reached out his hand to Max. Max hesitantly took it. Preston smiled.

* * *

 

 

“Are you going to Ered’s party?” Max asked.

“No, Nurf was invited. I don’t want to be somewhere with him…” Preston answered.

“That’s fair.”

“I feel like I’m disappointing people. Nerris and Harrison looked sad when I said I wasn’t going. Ered invited me, so she must want me to be there, at least a little bit. I just… I don’t know.”

“You’re still recovering. It’s fine if you still don’t fucking want to go somewhere that Nurf will be. It’s fine if you never want to. Nobody is forcing you to. They probably just wanted to spend time with you or some shit, and you can do that at other times. I don’t know. Do what you want.”

“Thanks, Max.” Preston leaned over, and hugged Max. “You’re so nice! I love you!”

“I love you too.”

“Awww,” Nikki shouted at them from where she was watching from the doorway. How long had she been standing there?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for that.
> 
> Tumblr: veryfluffyfluff


End file.
